Do You Ever Cheat On Your Gluten Free Diet?

I was just told today that my biopsies were positive. I'm trying to think about my life without a lot of my favorite foods. I know i'm going to go gluten free but seriously, is it a HUGE deal if i cheat once in awhile? Like even once a month on a favorite meal out, etc. I have no symptoms by the way. Thanks

No, never. I have had accidents where I ate something by mistake (and paid a price), but I would never intentionally eat something that I knew contained gluten. I am into my thirteenth year gluten-free.

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PeterDiagnosis by biopsy of practically non-existent villi; gluten-free since July 2000.Type 1 (autoimmune) diabetes diagnosed in March 1986Markham, Ontario (borders on Toronto)

NO WAY!!!! I'd never intentionally cheat - its the same thing as going into your garage, grabbing a bottle of antifreeze, taking a sip and saying "ok, a little bit won't hurt!" Please believe me when I say that when you are gluten free for a while and then accidentally get glutened, you will NEVER consider cheating purposely again. Is a cookie or pizza worth D, vomiting, migraines, fatigue, rashes, mood swings, and uncontrollable pain? (I dont know what your symptoms are, I'm just throwing out a few) Plus if you continue to cheat you put yourself at risk for other autoimmune diseases and issues with other organs.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but nothing is worth doing that to your body. There are plenty of gluten free replacement foods that taste just the same, if not better, than "regular" foods. There are two dedicated gluten free bakeries near my house that make cookies, cakes, pizzas, raviolis, breads, etc that are to DIE for. In fact, my family now eats this bakery's goodies because they are that good. Your favorite foods in gluten free versions are out there, you just have to look for them.

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"Dark and difficult times lie ahead ahead - soon we must all face the choice, to do what is right, or what is easy..." - Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter)

P.S. I never had symptoms before my diagnosis either, but now, once I accidentally eat something I shouldn't, I get pretty bad reactions. You do become more sensitive over time. You may not have reactions to gluten now, but I can almost guarantee that you will. Just some "food for thought!" (No pun intended )

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"Dark and difficult times lie ahead ahead - soon we must all face the choice, to do what is right, or what is easy..." - Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter)

I can understand if you have no symptoms why you might ask why not? just a little? once in a while? In fact I remember thinking similar thoughts at diagnosis even though my symptoms were very bad. After the initial shock wore off and I read as much as I could - I became very happy that all I had to do to regain health was remove gluten - well it was much more difficult than that for me - I had gone undiagnosed for 43 years so the damage was severe - three and half years later I still have major health problems caused by undiagnosed Celiac Disease.

When I hear "no symptoms" I think - oh how fortunate that person was to be diagnosed before this disease caused havoc to their health, family and life. I sure hope they can remain gluten-free to prevent the health problems I have experienced.

Even the smallest amount of gluten will continue to cause the auto-immune reaction taking place in your body. If you keep ingesting gluten, damage and symptoms will continue and likely get much worse.

The learning curve is tough, but once the transition is made it really is not hard to live gluten-free and the benefit of good health is priceless.

During these first few months should you find yourself ready to cheat - post your frustration here - there are plenty of us here that can understand every one of the frustrations that you will experience in the coming days.

It is very likely that you will begin having reactions to accidental ingestion of gluten at some point in these first few weeks/months. Once gluten is removed the body often reacts strongly to small mistakes. These reactions usually help reinforce the need to be as close to 100% gluten-free as you can.

You may also discover that you do have some minor symptoms that you never would have connected to gluten improve once it is removed. Depending on how long you have had Celiac Disease you may have dismissed minor aches, pains or digestive problems because they were just a little ache here, a little indigestion there - nothing that really slowed you down or seemed to be something to worry about.

Read as much as you can, ask questions and commit to removing gluten for your health and future.

I was just told today that my biopsies were positive. I'm trying to think about my life without a lot of my favorite foods. I know i'm going to go gluten free but seriously, is it a HUGE deal if i cheat once in awhile? Like even once a month on a favorite meal out, etc. I have no symptoms by the way. Thanks

Like the others, nope.I do get symptoms, but I was never super sick.But there are SOOOOOO many other very tasty things to eat, why would I bother getting sick? Even when I have to exclude dairy, there are still SOOOO many other things to eat!

I cook for friends fairly often, and no one - ever - has complained about the lack of choices or the taste. They might comment that I made more options than they have room in their belly to try. (I have gotten momentary disappointment when they learn that I don't have parmesean cheese for pasta. )

Finding all the other options takes time. Time and an openness to trying. But I've been doing this for... 10 years? So it's gotten a lot easier.

In the beginning, yes. 3 times, because like you, I didn't have a noticeable reaction.

First time, about 3 mos in, was a Twix bar. Felt bad because I had never stuck to a diet 100% for 3 mos before.

2nd time, about 3 weeks later, Hardees crispy chicken sandwich. It wasn't even that good. Didn't get sick exactly, but had some "urgency". Felt like a total failure though as I was hiding my cheating from my celiac kids.

3rd time, about 6 mos in. Egg rolls and crab rangoons. Stomach got really hard within a half hour. An hour later I knew I was in trouble. Spent the next several hours puking my guts out and in total agony.

Lesson learned.

Now, a year and a half after dx, even tiny amounts of cross contaminaton make me feel awfully yucky.

It is hard adjusting to the diet- sometimes when you are new, it is easy to give in. But don't. You will pay, one way or another.

But I was slowly dying from undiagnosed celiac and malabsorption and suffered major health consequences as a result. It has taken me nearly 2 years to get some relief from the pain I live in and get my brain function back and try to reverse the neurological symptoms and I am still rehabbing my deeply impacted muscles.

I think of Gluten as poison. Anthrax. Kryptonite.

I have often thought how easy it would be for my friends who do not suffer immediate GI or neurological symptoms to cheat, but they tell me they keep in mind that the damage occurs whether you "feel it" or not.

I think you should read up on how this disease process affects the whole body (and how celiac disease is related to other autoimmune diseases and cancer) so you know why cheating is never a good idea, hon.

Best wishes and Welcome to the club!

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"Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way we cope with it makes the difference." Virginia Satir

"The strongest of all warriors are these two - time and patience." Leo Tolstoy

“If idiots could fly, the sky would be like an airport.”― Laura Davenport

"Do or do not. There is no try. "- Yoda.

"LTES" Gem 2014

Misdiagnosed for 25+ years; Finally Diagnosed with Celiac 11/01/10. Double DQ2 genes. This thing tried to kill me. I view Celiac as a fire breathing dragon --and I have run my sword right through his throat.I. Win.

I was just told today that my biopsies were positive. I'm trying to think about my life without a lot of my favorite foods. I know i'm going to go gluten free but seriously, is it a HUGE deal if i cheat once in awhile? Like even once a month on a favorite meal out, etc. I have no symptoms by the way. Thanks

I have to ask . . . if you had no symptoms, why were you scoped? Something must have been going on

I think you've got the gist of how people feel about cheating from the previous posts. I'd like to give you some advice on how to NOT cheat.

You're better off planning these things ahead of time as I think cheating, in general, comes from when we are not prepared for a situation we find ourselves in.

What's your favorite gluten meal? What's your favorite gluten treat? I suggest that you ask here and you will get plenty of help with recipes and substitutions. Start working on a good replacement before you are really hankerin' for that chocolate chip cookie. Come here for recommendations on where to eat out . . . our family favorite is PF Changs. When somebody brings donuts to work . . . treat yourself to a snickers bar. Research ahead of time what you can get at a few local places (Wendy's frostys are gluten free).

Welcome to the forum. Some people do have actual withdrawals symptoms form gluten. If you keep eating gluten occasionally you will just keep that withdrawal issue alive. It's kind of like smoking, if you quit, you quit, because doing just one is not easy. The other thing is the autoimmune process starts and stops, but it starts fast and stops slowly. So you might eat some gluten one day and get a reaction quickly, but the immune process isn't going to stop for a couple weeks at least. So your once a month cheat idea ends up keeping the immune process going most of the time. The goal of the gluten-free diet is to stop the autoimmune process so the damage to the body stops and we can heal our guts and bodies. And just plain feel better too.

After you have done the gluten-free diet awhile you can learn to eat better, healthier foods and not miss the processed crap loaded with gluten anymore. It's just an adjustment and learning a new way of eating, anyone can do it if they want to. People that don't do it pay a price. And it is mighty steep sometimes.

Cheating once a month with a piece of cake is far too often if you want to stay healthy.

You will almost certainly encounter gluten sometime in the future, due to it's abundance in our food supply. Since you're new to the diet, you will need time to heal and yes you will probably consume gluten when you least expect (or even realise) it.

Also, realise that if you have deliberately consumed gluten at any point in time within the last three months, you are not Gluten Free.

No I haven't. I was one who got stomachaches from gluten, but my doctor dismissed it when I was a child and I trusted him and didn't revisit that issue. 30 odd years later or eating gluten, I now have 2 or 3 other autoimmune diseases which I might not have developed if I hadn't kept my body inflamed by eating gluten. I want to heal so I don't end up with another AI like MS or diabetes... It's not worth it... and I can still eat sooooo many things!